I’m not sure but I think you might be my first customer to establish a reproducing BSF colony in an area with no native BSF. I really doubt they’re found in Buffalo. I recommend that you protect as many larvae through maturity and pupation so you have the maximum number of mating adults to build up your colony. I’ll be glad to advise you this fall about getting ready for winter if you like, although since I live near Florida I don’t have experience with BSF in very cold conditions. We could both learn a lot from your experience.

I’m having a hard time reconciling your email address “greenelf” with your pouring boiling water over harmless and greatly beneficial creatures that are fulfilling a crucial role in nature. What is “gross” is your attitude and behavior. If you educate yourself about BSF, an integral part of your environment, you might learn how to keep them out of your worm bins and you might also lose some of the close-mindedness that you’ve displayed here.

Yes, the shipping was quick but it only takes a few seconds of extreme heat to kill the larvae. Your kit was guaranteed and I will email you to discuss your options.

Mi español es quizá un poco mejor que su inglés. Qué ahora estoy escribiendo se ha traducido usando ” Babelfish” traductor disponible en http://babelfish.yahoo.com/. No sé dónde usted puede ser que encuentre las larvas en Colombia. Usted puede querer investigar esta organización: http://biosystemsblog.com/about/. Realizan la investigación con BSF en Bogata.

(translated using Babel Fish Translator)

I was mistaken when I wrote “nylon tubing” in the post and I’ve changed it to vinyl which is what I used. The barb adapter I used is nylon. Thanks for bringing that to my attention. The truth is you can use a wide variety of materials. I’m thinking about ordering some tappers that are sold for beer and wine making with plastic buckets. In that case I may attach tubing to the tapper or just drain the liquid directly into a container for disposal. The clear tubing does give you advantage of being able to monitor the level of the liquid, I’m just not sure yet how much I’ll use that information.

Keeping the bucket in a larger insulated box will help, but the concept is to preserve the heat generated by the larvae and the larger the space you try to heat the less effective it will be. The box could be a good secondary form of insulation, somewhat like keeping the bucket in a shed or garage for the winter. The best way to preserve the heat of the larvae is to place an insulating disc directly on top of the waste. You would remove the disc each time you add food. In my bucket composter you could remove the harvest tube in the winter because few larvae will mature. Something to consider; if you keep the colony too warm you might get a large percentage of larvae maturing which won’t serve much of a purpose. I think a good arrangement for winter composting would be to keep the bucket in a protected space that stays between 50-60ºF (10-15ºC) and to use the insulated disc on the waste. I’ve used plain Styrofoam, but it gets torn up by the larvae. I intend on experimenting with different materials in the future.

I hope your BSF become active soon Barbara. If I were you I would start fermenting some corn ASAP as an attractant. The batch I made 5 weeks ago is performing very well now. Good luck!

My second question is about insulating the bucket for winter activity. I have some excess foam insulation board and was thinking of lining a larger box with it, such as in my current orange peel composter, and then plopping the bucket system within the insulated bin. Thoughts? If you’ve already covered these questions, please direct me – I haven’t yet perused all the posts because there is so much good information here!

Thanks.

Barbara